Mercedes has announced a restructuring of its senior management positions, with Mike Elliott to become its new Technical Director, and James Allison taking on a newly-defined role within the organisation.
Allison has been Mercedes’ Formula 1 Technical Director since 2017 but will take on the position of Chief Technical Officer from July 1.
Allison will consequently step back from the day-to-day management of Mercedes’ Formula 1 technical operations and instead focus on the championship’s new era.
Mercedes outlined that Allison will “work closely with the technical leadership at both Brackley and Brixworth to ensure the team always has the right capability to meet its needs.”
Allison’s role will be taken by Elliott, who joined Mercedes in 2012, following prior roles at McLaren and Renault.
Elliott has spent time as Mercedes’ Head of Aerodynamics and since 2017 has been its Technology Director.
“Since joining Mercedes in 2017, James has been an exceptional technical leader for our team, and he has made an enormous contribution to our performance,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
“He combines huge passion and determination with detailed expertise and exceptional moral character.
“We have known for a while that his time as Technical Director would be coming to an end this year and I am delighted that we have been able to shape this new role to keep him within our motorsport family.
“He will be an important sparring partner for me in the next years and I know that we still have much to achieve together.
“We often say that the organisation is a dynamic organism, and that we need to adapt continuously if we want to truly thrive.
“Effective succession planning has been a strength of our team, so I am delighted to announce Mike in his new role as Technical Director.
“We first met at the beginning of 2013 when I joined the team and have spent many hours talking about the team and its evolution since then.
“Mike has developed from our Head of Aerodynamics to now being ready to take the step up to become Technical Director.
“Together with an exceptional group of senior technical leaders, this puts us in the best possible position for the sport’s next era.”
Traditionally in F1, these types of changes in team structures shake up the grid pecking order. We’ve probably seen it in every era of F1, where the most dominant teams crash and burn due to sudden departures, or slowly fizzle out as key personnel flee or agree to long-term deals. Mercedes have been on autopilot for years but are slowly fizzling. I predict the team will be sold sooner rather than later, especially if they don’t come out on top after the new regulations next year.